Additive White Gaussian Noise

Ah, the difference between White Noise and White Gaussian Noise is that the latter has a "Gaussian" or normal amplitude distribution (bell shaped like in statistics), but both still has constant power spectral density. In AWGN, the word "additive" simply shows that the noise has an additive effect on a signal, rather than a convoluted effect in communication systems.

 

Sorry for the late reply!

For example, we know that in communication transmission, the data signal x(t) is "combined" with other signal h(t) to produce a third signal (normally by integral transform- ie convolution). Because the final signal is sent through a wireless channel consisting of interference, noise signal n(t) is combined together. However, n(t) does not have an integral effect on the signal.. it is merely added to it, thus only the amplitude of the signal changes. The final equation of the signal is something like this:

y(t) = x(t)*h(t) + n(t).

AWGN models the noise in the communication channel, so it is used in simulation and calculations. It is not the only model, but its the most frequently used. MATLAB has an AWGN function in which the second parameter is the noise level in dB.

Hope that helps!

More info on convolution here:
Convolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia